TAGAYTAY CITY—President Benigno Aquino on Thursday said journalists should not fear the right of reply bill if they practice balanced reporting.

Speaking before the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), the President made a passing mention of the bill, which grants individuals and companies the right to reply to charges or criticisms in newspapers, radio, TV or websites.

Mr. Aquino said Juan de la Cruz, the Filipino everyman, would not only benefit but would be encouraged by truthful reporting in taking part in nation-building.

“The same spirit hews closely to our position on the issue of right of reply. As [the Bible] says, the truth will set you free. If two sides of a story are reported, if the details of every news are accurate and the freedom of all Filipinos to form their own opinion is valued, then any journalist has nothing to worry about, isn’t it?” he told TV and radio broadcasters at the Taal Vista Hotel.

The right of reply bill is pending in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Lawmakers were also proposing to include a right of reply provision in the freedom of information (FOI) bill pending in the House of Representatives.

Deliberations on the FOI bill by the House committee on public information have been clogged by technicalities. Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, the committee chairman, on Tuesday adjourned the hearing before the consolidated version could be put to a vote, fearing this would overlap with the plenary session.

Advocates had been hoping this could be put to a vote at the committee so it could be forwarded to the plenary for debate and approved on final reading.

The bill seeks to lift the secrecy surrounding the government transactions and documents and allow for more transparency. The measure is aimed at rooting out corruption and promoting good governance.

Malacañang on Wednesday denied the President was leading the charge to kill the FOI bill, but made no commitment to rally its allies to approve the measure.

Secretary Edwin Lacierda, presidential spokesperson, said Malacañang was not delaying its passage, but was deferring to the House lawmakers to deliberate on it.

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http://pedestrianobserver.blogspot.com/ Political Jaywalker

Yo PNoy, don’t take the people for fools, LOL.

The right of reply is the most ridiculous and idiotic bill we have come across, only in the Philippines so they say, hehehe.

Now, how will that bill benefit Aling Maria from Aling Bruna the village master rumor monger gossiping about her extra-marital affairs when it is highly unlikely to almost impossible that their story telling a lie will land in the papers or the idiot box? Ok, why not just admit that politicians would like to get a free ride from ATM journalist so they can pocket quite a chunk of what they get from Juan de la Cruz? Why not admit that it is not the people who are not yet ready to handle the truth but your kuligs este colleagues who are not willing to share to the public backdoor transactions?

http://www.angdabawenyo.com Blogie Robillo

This “right of reply” act that this administration wants, and the fact that they murdered the FOI bill, clearly points to the desire of those in power to curb our freedom. Which freedom, you might ask? The freedom to be aware of what politicians are up to!

They want to insert “right of reply” provisions in the FOI bill? How idiotic is that?!? What has one got to do with the other? Nothing!

suburbanmother

How are they going to use this right of reply provision in the FOI bill. I’m not sure if I understand it fully.

The question is, since when is it prohibited or that the right to reply of the individual who is subject of a news or any journalistic article taken away? It is a fundamental freedom or right that does not require a law if you think about it. The individual can also sue the author of the article if it is proven to be libelous and untrue. Delaying tactics and actions by those politicians in Congress ( House and Senate ) should be noted and remembered so the citizens can vote them out of the Philippine Congress, the next time that they are due for reelection. If that is the best excuse that the advisers of Pres. Aquino can think of, Pnoy should take second look of the people he has picked to advise him. =))

Hey_Dudes

Something must really be wrong in the way we express ourselves and the perception on which we telegraph our understanding of matters.

Suddenly, critics are now lambasting the current leadership for not allowing the Freedom of Information to achieve it’s goal? The same critics have conveniently forgotten or pretending hypocrisy not at the center of their diatribe against this sitting president, GMA through her controlled lower house congress members did nothing but relegated the same FOI bill gathering dust for 9 years? Did these critics were as gallant in their daily criticisms against GMA as they are now with Pnoy?

Ideally, since we Filipinos are not well known for being more prudent when it comes to having access to information including those deemed private and confidential and how we used these for purposes beyond desire to get to the truth, a critical bill such as FOI should be studied extensively and not rushed like most laws of the land pushed forward by congress without much thought only regretting later on about not doing something more to eliminate legal problems dealing such things in courts.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_RWPOD4ER5LJPDQU3N32NAC74X4 johnnie r

But PNOY was for FOI when he was still a presidential aspirant and even PROMISED to pass it once he becomes president during the 2010 elections!!! Why the sudden turn around now that he is the sitting president???

Hey_Dudes

From what I am hearing PNOY is still president is he not? In fact he’s got 3 more years sitting as president in case you may not have been counting. We did not know whether or not this law will become law while he is still president. However, I do not think you are being fair prejudging when he is still the president.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_E3CE56OQVPC4RPYD2NR4VD3SUE Bert

So you still think Pnoy will pass the FOI Bill thru his lapdogs in congress and the senate? Ang dami na ngang PALUSOT eh? Are you still sleeping or are you another hopeless yellow fanatics? And why pandak again, di na nga sya presidente eh? Shame….

http://www.facebook.com/andrew.azul.50 Andrew Azul

PANGAKO PALA. GUSTO MO PA. TUPARIN?

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2X4TI446PMPWV66NCWO7TAYRUM Boyz

Hey_dudes, PNoy is NOW the president, not GMA. He is the subject of the article, NOT GMA. If GMA’s administration did not pass the FOI bill, then there is still no point in talking about what she did not pass or do, because, if I may repeat, PNOY is NOW the president.

Stop pointing the fingers and blaming the past admin like PNoy, instead, look at what the current admin is doing because it is the one who has the power to enact laws via the House and Executive branches.

Ivideo

Hey Boyz, you don’t seem to understand hey_dudes comment. He is simply pointing out how this FOI bill has been sitting and gathering dust in GMA controlled congress and none of you became impatient and critical of her for 9 long year. No part of his comment is blaming GMA administration. His subject is you, PNoy’s critics, to wait and see. PNoy has 3 years to go.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_E3CE56OQVPC4RPYD2NR4VD3SUE Bert

owwssss…lame.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2X4TI446PMPWV66NCWO7TAYRUM Boyz

Hey_dudes,
PNoy is NOW the president, not GMA. He is the subject of the article,
NOT GMA. If GMA’s administration did not pass the FOI bill, then there
is still no point in talking about what she did not pass or do, because,
if I may repeat, PNOY is NOW the president.

Stop pointing the fingers and blaming the past admin like PNoy,
instead, look at what the current admin is doing because it is the one
who has the power to enact laws via the House and Executive branches.

mekeni62

Coming from Pnoy’s mouth it is obvious that the delaying tactics emanate from him and his goons in Congress simply follow.

jeffrey_01

make sure all congressmen and senators read the FOI before approval. Make sure they understand what’s in it. Please do not repeat the Cybercrime 2012 mess.

LabkoPinas

The right to reply is necessary to protect an untrusting people from the purges of a government that suppresses dissent and hires so called yellow armies to harass dissenters. If the administration is doing good do you think anyone will complain? No. Then the administration is still needing reform. As such, the right to reply.

We cannot always expect balanced reporting! That is why there is a need for the FOI Bill. One’s right ends where another’s begin. Our very Constitution guarantees freedom of information and free speech. Only the onion skinned politician and the despot would cringe at the freedom of citizens to know the truth. Pass the FOI Bill.

wawa2172

I guess the president just wanted to shield himself to criticism thus the delay of the FOI Bill. The palace knows for the fact that there is no such thing as balance reporting as it has controlled majority of the broadsheets and television that include the biggest like ABS-CBN. Objective criticism is necessary because it could make the government to work harder. Remember the Noynoyng issue? It got on the nerve of Pnoy to order his men to work better. Somehow FOI is simply important to us, it can open a lot transparency like how it is in the current dole out program of DSWD. The passage of FOI Bill is better for the government bureaucracy.

niceguy60

The promised to support FOI is used to fool the voters. It’s getting clearer now. Don’t we noticed the supporters are quiet about it? Investigative journalist should look in to what’s going on the background. Follow the money.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2X4TI446PMPWV66NCWO7TAYRUM Boyz

Imbalanced reporting got you your presidency, ABNoy! ABiasCBN and many newspapers, including this one, never criticize your shortcomings and only highlight your “achievements.” My theory still stands that they destroyed GMA by posting as many negative news as possible in order to make way for your so-called “tuwid na daan” candidacy. Now, I’m not absolving her of any misdeed – she is probably guilty in some cases and not in some. But your media backers magnified them for you.

the “right of reply” bill is a disguise of “SHOW ME THE PROOF”!!!!!….and the FOI bill will be set aside forever, else, all politicians would be subjected to declare how their pork barrels are spent, and penoy, his special fund, or calamity fund or fund for none, or whatever disguise fund they want to call it…………..

ODAPAIN

good that we try to make positive changes,bad that lawmakers dont want it,ugly that we have to live with it

PNoy said journalists should not fear the right to reply bill if they practice balanced reporting. The bill grants individuals and companies the right to reply to charges or criticism on newspaper, radio, tv or websites, and would not only benefit but would be encouraged by truthful reporting in taking part in nation building.
“The same spirit hews clearly to our position on the issue of right to reply. As the Bible says “The truth will set you free. If two sides of a story are reported, if the details of every news are accurate and the freedom of all Filipinos to form their own opinion is valued, then any journalist has nothing to worry about.”

On the other side, Maria Ressa of ABS-CBN said “The bill is a form of prior restraint and a violation of press freedom. It dictates content and is an indirect form of censorship. If you can set aside the legal issue however, the bill is incomplete. It’s chaotic. It is impossible to implement and a throwback to an authoritarian past at a time when the rest of the world is moving forward and embracing the changes and openness brought about by technology and new media.”

In addition, Dana Batnag of FOCAP cited that the reply, as stated in the bill, “does not have to be truthful, and the subject of the news only needs to answer the allegations.”
“It takes away from the newspaper its function to check and verify the truth. It allows politicians to dictate for themselves how the story should be written and what should be stories regardless of whether these are truthful or important.”

Nuong si pandakekek pa ang presidente, Pnoy and his fans wanted the FOI Bill passed ASAP and you never heard them mentioning or demanding about RIGHT TO REPLY. Ngayong sya na ang presedente, ayaw na nya ng FOI Bill and he’s now demanding RIGHT TO REPLY?

I suspect there must be some secrets he’s trying to hide. Becoming obvious as the days go by. The truth will set us free.

EdgarEdgar

For all his imbalances, Noynoy is one to talk about balanced reporting. It is plain for all to see that Noynoy is a loud gay president because of his serious hormonal imbalance. It is even plainer for all to see that Noynoy is increasingly becoming more psychotic because of his chemical imbalance. Not that he has been skipping his meds, but his lifelong drug dependency for his psychological problems has screwed up his entire being to say the least. Noynoy can blame his emotional imbalance and incurable depression on his unhappy childhood and uneasy relationship with his late father. But the loss of his inner compass is entirely Noynoy’s fault and his alone. Noynoy’s moral imbalance should not be used as an excuse for his funny walk. Nor should his funny walk be an excuse for his inability to walk a straight line, much less follow a straight path. And yet for all his talk of Daang Matuwid, our gay president Noynoy has seriously gone astray. For someone who hates Noli de Castro for telling it like it is, our imbalanced president should be the last person talking about balanced reporting and ethics of journalism.

Malik62

BS Aquino X3 is the opposite of everything he says. He is a certified ” AMALAYER!”

jeesus lacierda. come up with something more imaginative than that please

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QZZKXPEA67I7HELEIYM35QVYFA Jon

The height of hypocrisy and paranoia.
He wants to the right to reply but obviously is stifling the fundamental access to make an informed opinion through the FOI bill in the first place.
Added to this is his obstinate insistence to curtail the right of free expression by his espousal of the cybercrime law.
Why are you so afraid of people expressing their thoughts on your administration Mr. President?

$20926843

As I wrote here before, this inconsequential president in malacanang will not endorse a true to form FOI Bill and wants it diluted to suit his evil purpose. He knows that passing and signing into law this bill will be like getting a hammer to bludgeon his own autistic and abnormal skull!

Line Of Flight

a “right to reply” seems to violate both the freedom of the press/freedom of expression provisions in the constitutional along with the constitutional right that private property will not be taken for public use without just compensation. of course, i doubt this proposed law will apply to the common person who appears in the media but only to the filthy rich and other politicians

PinoyAkoPinoyTayo

you voted for an idiot, you get an idiot.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Q3QGG5QHBLRMZTIYWUFURY6J2E Night

Let us thank the 15 million uto utos for voting Pwenoy and continue to believe in him…..

The problem is what is the criteria of the government to judge a comment or reporting to be balanced reporting. If the comment is critical to the administration will it be considered imbalanced. If the government will reply to every criticism then it will be busy in replying rather than concentrating on the problem of the country

6jose_acopio37

I agree. Thank you.

Magsasaka

right of reply=right to suppress

Fulpol

every time a newspaper wrote something about B.S. Aquino III, he will order Lacierda to write about the issue and send it to the publisher…

30-50% of the newspaper content will be the “replies” of B.S. Aquino III, his KKK, his appointed officials and his political allies…

and B.S. Aquino III still ask, why worry about the right to reply?

it’s bad for the business…

WeAry_Bat

Tama ka Fulpy, kahit sino pwde naman mag-reply.

Yng reply nga ng iba, ‘Sue you in court!’

disqusted0fu

look who’s talking. its him who doesnt have this balanced mind. he has a one way “straight path”. its to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants it, and it will always be the right way even when obviously, it is not. before you go on and talk about the right of reply bill, pass the FOI first so we’ll see what this administration is really all about.

Malik62

It’s all about BS Aquino X3 who has not achieved anything, pull down the country to oblivion and steal the people’s money.

niceguy60

Can government archived, assuming they do archive official documents, can be easily requested by ordinary citizen by invoking FOI? To this day there’s not a lot the people know about some truths in governments. Biased media doesn’t help either. The FOI might make it possible for citizens initiative to find real truths independent from media spinners.

Malik62

The administration of BS Aquino X3 is so secretive because they have so many skeletons in the closet. To cover them all they do is blame GMA.

6jose_acopio37

I agree. Thank you.

Malik62

BS Aquino X3 should not use the word of God in vaiin. BS ahould first practice what he says that speaking the truth will set you free, When did BS ever spoke the truth?

pangitbudhiko

Never, as in never talaga

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_E3CE56OQVPC4RPYD2NR4VD3SUE Bert

With the major media outlets like the The Inquirer, ABS-CBN and Phil Star sympathetic to PNOY, some even turning themselves into GOVT MOUTHPIECES, why is Pnoy still attacking the media as a whole. If there is current media imbalance, the tilt clearly favors the yellow.

Malik62

The only thing that is imbalanced is the brain of BS Aquino X3!

PinoyAkoPinoyTayo

We should modify the constitution in a way that foreign institution can also compete in the media business. Pinag-sisigawan ng ABS-CBN at Inquirer na maganda nangyari sa EDSA 1, pano hindi gaganda eh negosyo nila na-protektahan di ba? iilan lang naman ang may enough resources to enter the media market. Now, we’re left with a bunch of media institutions who have just become mouthpieces of Aquino.

EDSA 1? pwe! umunlad ba Pilipinas since EDSA 1?

kilabot

with balanced mind, why worry about reporting?
intiende noykapon?

sopingac

It is ironic that Pnoy who is a media creation is now lambasting the very same people that made him President. He owes a lot to Gloria and the media for he alone has virtually nothing to prove that he is competent to be President.

He is incompetent that his role is mainly to show face in the media by reading a prepared script. He himself cannot even attack the former President without the help of a teleprompter. And in fact he was also reading a prepared script when he lambasted media recently.

We have a puppet President.

buttones

‘Wot- me worry?” I don’t want to plagiarize the great Alfred E Newman, but it might be a good slogan for Mr Aquino to adopt along with the ‘straight paths’ – “no poverty = no corruption” and all the rest of his trite aphorisms- they don’t mean a thing.

martin cruz

Do not all Filipinos have the right to reply and do we not all have the freedom of information? What’s the fuss all about? The two bills have only been topics of dissensions and contentions right from the very start. It would save us a whole lot of trouble if we just throw these two in the nearest waste can. Both the information and the reply is up to those who receive it to digest and weigh down as to its truth, relevance and import. Really now, our stupid legislators are again in their usual elements.

Guest

Some journalists and publications print undue criticism in exchange for money from concerned parties and, for the same reason, they don’t bother printing the side of those being criticized. This bill if enacted into law discourages unethical journalism since the side of those unfairly criticized must also be printed.

Your_King

The FOI bill is taking a long time to be finalized and approved. And here Aquino decides to jab journalist anew. Why not let reporters and journalist report and you just do your job and be President without complaining about criticism. President’s need to have thick skin. Why did he run for the Presidency is he didn’t have thick skin? Unless he didn’t know…in which case, his mistake.

Guest

I agree. If journalists have the right to
criticize then those being criticized must also have the right to reply.
This indeed encourages balanced reporting, discourages unethical or
“envelopmental” journalism and lead to a well informed society.

http://www.facebook.com/oustcorona ILL_HIT_YOUR_FACE

Ano yung system natin?… meron din bang clearance level katulad nang sa US? or anything and everyting under the sun is all for the public to see.. .(Including our Enemies like China?)

jeffrey_01

i think the senators and congressmen has no idea. they think probably that anybody can simply look at it without clearance and lawyers stamp.

We need to clean the seante and congress of brain dead people (zombies).

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_E3CE56OQVPC4RPYD2NR4VD3SUE Bert

you hate zombies? many of them reside in the palace…..

Albert Einstien

RIGHT of REPLY is CORRUPTION…..imagine the MEDIA will have to WAIT for the THIEF/PLUNDERER to comment on the PUBLIC EVIDENCE/DATA that media or ANY citizen will gather & expose…it will ONLY give TIME to the plunderer to KILL or BRIBE that media or citizen…..where is your brain………the plunderer or thief can always sue or reply LATER but not to be IMPOSED before it is published…..REMEMBER the DATA under FOI are PUBLIC RECORDS they are ALREADY EVIDENCE….. pnocchio———->

The FOI bill is meant to cut off the source of the real income of some people, probably some of those who are going to sign the bill. Of course, why would they give somebody a rope to hang them. FOI bill will never be passed, there are hundreds of obstables along the way.

jeffrey_01

why worry without the right to reply? do the right thing and they’ll never find a skeleton in your closet.

Cal_Reznick

The President’s definition of balanced reporting is any report in favor of him is welcomed and any report against him will be attacked.

right
of reply? more like right to fly…what if ayaw talaga magreply kasi iwas pusoy? and how
dare you spew bible quote about truth when you are hindering it yourself for
not pushing FOI? nakakabanas lang…

pangitbudhiko

si abnoy gagamit ng mga salita sa biblia when he himself is not adhering to the teaching of the bible